Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Checklist and Review

I need to go to bed, mostly because I am sick. And I didn't get enough sleep last night, especially after losing an hour coming back from CA.

So just so I feel accomplished... I'd like to do my checklist for today. I got up, I went to bowling class, and I left after the "business" was taken care of (the teacher left it up to us, and I am sick), and I tried to get a locker. But we can't get them till Thursday. I need a locker to keep my ball and shoes so I don't have to lug them every day.

After that, I grabbed a Jamba with some daily vitamin boost again, trying to beat this stupid sickness. I met with the principal of the school I'll be at, as well as my mentoring teacher for next year. She was super enthusiastic and fun. :) I am excited. I guess I'll be teaching eighth grade, which is a little bit difficult for me because of how unfamiliar I am with it. I like seventh grade a lot. Oh well.

After that I was going to go to work, but I had to go to sleep for a couple hours. I am still trying to defeat this sickness. It is painful. More on that in a bit. I got up and went to Polynesian dance class. Wow. Even in 20 minutes I was sweating. I am out. of. shape. Seriously. But I learned a lot already. It was great. I am excited for BOTH classes because both seem like they'll be really fun and laid back which is exactly what I wanted. After class I took a movie back to Blockbuster and rented a few, including Last Chance Harvey; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; The Doors; and Life Aquatic. Then I came home for a while, and I soon after got pizza for me and Brianne, and we watched Last Chance Harvey. Didn't love it.

I also had a reschedule an appointment that I had for Friday. And I had to reschedule an appointment I had tonight. And I watched American Idol. Adam Lambert is amazing. Period. I also got Red Mango. It was yummy.

OK so it was a long day. Let's recap my trip, just for my own memories, since I'm a terrible journal keeper. I figure these things are fun.

Day 1, Mom picked me up in her cute little summer dress. :) I had some crazy experiences at the airport, including Suzette who wanted to be my friend while we waited for our luggage, Shorty McShortShort who joined in the conversation, and Jigga #27 who spruced it all up by cursing about the possibility of lost luggage. I wanted to get out of there ASAP.

Also, I got my seat pulled on twice on the plane by Bernadette while I was trying to sleep. I guess she couldn't stand up without making my head experience an earthquake. Anyways. I got home, hung out for a bit. I got my Easter basket which was darling. Jared had picked a shirt out for me with a tomato and a ketchup bottle, and the tomato is saying, "This is so messed up." It's random, but so cute. Dad came home to see me, and then I got ready to go to the beach. I got my friend Justin, and we went for the day. :)

Goofball didn't even bring his own towel. And he forgot the key to his beach house. Alzheimer's, much? ;) But it was OK cuz I brought lots of water. And a huge towel. I got burnt that day, but after a good night's sleep it turned in to a freaking sweet tan. You should see. I'm Hawaiian like that. Oh, we also went to BJ's. I should've taken a picture. It was delicious, but the service was pretty disappointing. We walked around Main Street a bit, too. Delightful, really. It was hot outside, with barely any breeze, which was an odd thing at the beach.

It was interesting being back in California. I'm used to sheltered Utah where F bombs are rarely dropped. Much too frequent in Cal, actually, and I'm not used to it anymore. Oh well.

Then we drove home, and I showered and watched Idol with my parents. It was awesome, of course.

Day 2, Dad took me, Jake, and Jared to breakfast at B&J's. I bought Jared some flip flops for the beach, and some chips. Then we went home, packed an ice chest, and Christmas and Ashleigh came with us to the beach. It was COLD and cloudy! It was sad. But the best tans come on overcast days.

They buried Jared in the sand. Yeah. And my tan was reinforced.

We took a long time to get home because of traffic. Then I got ready and went to Chipotle with Justin. It was good. Not as good as I had heard it was, but good. We went to Best Buy, and I purchased Blow and Harold and Maude for $5 a piece! I was so excited. I love Best Buy. A lot. Then we got Cold Stone because... I have to have dessert ;) and we watched Punch Drunk Love. So, so weird. But awesome! Then Slumdog Millionaire--again. I love it.

Day 3, Thursday. Just kinda hung out at the house. Took pictures like this:

And videos like this:

Oh, that dog got his hair shaved cuz he was so matted. But my cat. He's such a stud. Look at that guy, beating up a dog. Awesome.

I got a hair cut from Tanya. I was super happy with it, cuz she kept it long and just gave me some layers.

So I also took Jake out driving in my El Camino. A little frightening, but I'm not much of a panicker.

He wasn't so bad. ;) I gave him some good tips. I remember struggling a lot, too, so I was patient.

Then I got ready for... HOTEL CAFE! Oh man. It was so sweet. Took mama's car, got Justin, and headed out. I didn't get lost, either. I didn't take any pictures, really. It was so dark inside, and no one else was taking pictures, so I didn't want everyone to look at me.

Opening band was Freddy and Francine. Guys, they were so much fun! Go and listen to them. So awesome!

Then it was Ernie Halter. He had some sweet songs. Like ones that I really connected with a lot personally/emotionally.

Then it was Elizabeth and the Catapult. OK, if nothing else, listen to Taller Children. It's gonna be their radio hit, guaranteed. The singer is a combo of Regina Spektor and Fiona Apple. She was so, so great. And her drummer and guitarist looked like Geico cavemen. Just sayin. They were great. It was SUCH a fun night. The atmosphere is so mellow and awesome, and smoke free. I loved it. Going again, next time I'm down. I love LA so much.

We went to Denny's. It was fun. I like getting the sampler. Cheese sticks, chicken strips, onion rings? Sounds like fried fatty deliciousness to me. Yep.

(Day 4) OK, next day was Friday. I woke up way too late and was not happy about it at all. I hate wasting the day. But Justin and I went to see The Soloist. It was pretty good. Not as good as I anticipated. But good. Then we went to Casa del Rey.

I noticed my ElCo was a little low on gas, and I was going to get gas after eating. Then I forgot. Yeah. I forgot. Most cars on empty mean, "Hey, you've got a while left, but just so you know, I'm on empty." Not my Blue. She's like, "Hey, I'm empty. No, seriously. I am empty." Except there is no light to remind me. So I got on the on ramp from the 57 to the 210 east, and the meter was on, lucky for me. This means that it was stop and go traffic. This means that my car died. On the on ramp. In California. Where helpful Mormons are not in abundance.

Did I mention my phone had died during the movie? It dies every day, less than 24 hour battery life. And did I mention that Justin had forgotten his? Good. Great. Grand. So I sat in the car while he ran down the hill and jumped a fence to find a phone to call my mom to call AAA to bring me gas.

Two people asked if I needed help. The two kids who pulled over both had dead cell phones too. haha. Lucky for me. Oh well. Thanks to Justin and madre, AAA came and solved the problem--my forgetfulness. Yeah. I can't believe I'm putting this on my blog. But we're all retarded at heart, right?

So I got back home where my cousin Jason and his dad Mark were waiting for me so we could go to the Angels game.

Due to some directional incapability on my mom's part plus my no-gas delay, we missed an inning and a half. Then we got slaughtered. 8 to 3 against the Mariners. It was really sad. But I had such a fun time talking to my cousin. It was so great.

Aren't we cute? I know.

Mom bought me a bunch of stuff... Surprised? No, you're not. I got a new rally monkey, a bathing suit?, undies, a cute bag, and some other things I think. Also, she bought me Ruby's fries and a chocolate shake. The shake was AMAZINGLY good. Highly recommend it next time you're on the pier in Huntington Beach, which is lovely, by the way.

A little out of place, but it was such a cool picture that I just wanted to post it :)

So then I went and stole Justin's music. And fell in love with Arcade Fire. I'm a little behind on the uptake, I know. I had heard that Wake Up song (on my playlist to the right) before, and LOVED it. Then I made the connection. Listened to the whole album on the way home. So good!

P.S. I love "Sex on Fire" by Kings of Leon. K? Great song. And I am so sad that Indie 103 died :(

Day 5: Saturday morning I woke up around 10 and did not feel good. I told my dad this. He took me for a ride on his huge bike anyway. And we got lunch at this Mexican place in Pomona or something. It was good. But I was getting chills.

I got home and laid down on the couch about 1:30. I didn't wake up until 4. By that time it was too late to go to Kristina's birthday party thing. And I couldn't lift my head up because it felt like it weighed fifty pounds. I slept the rest of the day till 8 or so. I couldn't eat Mom's dinner. It just didn't sound good. I was in a lot of pain. My ears were hurting deeply, my glands were swollen in my neck, and it just was not fun. So she made me some soup. An hour later, I felt SO much better. It was a miracle. *Addendum* I have to say how great my family was to me while I was sick. My mom took care of me, buying me tissue and checking on me. My brother Jared got me water a lot, and brought me dinner. Jason came to hug me and tell me that he hopes I feel better. Dad asked if he could get me anything, and he opened windows when I started to get hot. Everyone just pitched in to help me feel better, and it was so cute, and I felt so loved. I love my fam.

(Day 6) But the next day, Sunday I woke up still feeling really yucky. I tried to make Kristina a cake and still give her somewhat of a birthday since I couldn't come. But I was still hurting a lot, terrible headache, super drowsy, and just generally not good at all. I was not fun company for her. I spent the rest of Sunday after she left hanging with my fam, watching Stardust, helping Mom a little bit with dinner... I packed up a little bit, did some laundry, and got to bed somewhat early. Dinner was so great. Mushroom soup and corn bread. Delicious. Thanks Mom.

Obviously, I got home yesterday. Rachel picked me up from the airport at 3ish. I got my car and all that good stuff, went to Wal Mart to get some stuff and basic groceries...

I got home to find out that I failed cleaning checks, due to really ridiculous reasons. 1. The fridge. I spent 30 minutes cleaning it. I even took out the shelves to clean them. Not sure what was "not clean" about it at ALL, and the lady in the office couldn't tell me. Nope. 2. Vacuum. Also spent several minutes vacuuming my room. Keep in mind I had to clean like six days before they could actually check. 3. Closet. Funny, since they didn't include that in the list of things to clean. When I asked the office, she said the bunny had gotten bedding on the floor. That's great, but um... I was out of town, so I couldn't clean it up, durh?

So they charged me $5 for re-checks on Monday morning (which obviously I wasn't here for), and then $25 for the thirty minutes they spent doing "fridge, vacuum, closet." Thanks guys, I'm sure 30 minutes of cleaning was really necessary for 10 pieces of pine bedding in my closet, an already clean fridge, and an already vacuumed room. That's great. I like dropping $30, because I make it so easily. Wow. I am writing a letter to the higher manager, pretty soon. This is a little ridiculous, especially since I told them I'd be out of town. How is that even fair? K. Lived here for 3.5 years, I could use some mercy, please.

And I already told y'all about my day today in classes and sleeping/recovery. I need to go try and do more of that, since I've written yet another novel without meaning to. I'm sure I'll find all sorts of typos when I go back through it. I am glad to be back in my own bed though, and in some fun classes! Tomorrow I get to go to class, work, the bank, and the bookstore to buy a packet for dance. Maybe I'll go see He's Just Not that Into You, or Coraline. Alone. I like going alone. :) I also like sleeping.